ROME (RNS) Pope Francis has made a surprise visit to a poor beachside town south of Rome where he went door-to-door blessing families.
It was the latest example of the pope’s “Mercy Friday” activities, his personal community outreach initiative that began during his Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2016.
This time the 80-year-old pontiff visited around a dozen families, chatted and joked with them and apologized for “the disturbance,” the Vatican statement said.
In November Francis paid a visit to seven families with men who had left the priesthood to marry and have children.
The Vatican compared the pope’s visit to the regular Easter blessings that are usually conducted at this time of year by parish priests.